ICC announces Playing Conditions for the WTC final

The World Test Championship (WTC) final will be held in Southampton on June 18 between India and New Zealand. The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday announced the playing conditions for the eagerly anticipated final. The ICC has kept an extra reserved day, June 23, which will only be employed if the time lost during regulation play on each day is not made up on the same day. In case, the match ends in a tie both teams will be crowned as joint winners of the inaugural WTC.

“The playing conditions confirm that a draw or a tie will see both teams crowned as joint winners as well as the allocation of a Reserve Day to make up for any lost time during the regular days of the Final – scheduled to be played from 18 to 22 June, with 23 June set aside as the Reserve Day. Both of these decisions were made in June 2018, prior to the commencement of the ICC World Test Championship,” the ICC said in its media release.

The current provisions allow match officials to extend the play by half an hour at the end of the day and start the next day half hour early to make up for the lost time during the regular playing days.

“The Reserve Day has been scheduled to ensure five full days of play, and it will only be used if lost playing time cannot be recovered through the normal provisions of making up lost time each day. There will be no additional day’s play if a positive result is not achieved after five full days of play and the match will be declared a draw in such a scenario,” read the ICC media release.

The two teams will also be utilizing a neutral ball – Dukes, a ball that is used for the first class cricket in England. Back home, India plays with the SG ball while New Zealand relies on Kookaburra.

Apart from this, the WTC final will also see three new rules — regarding short runs, player reviews, and DRS reviews that will come into play.